Fresh tomato sauce

What do you do when you have a number of tomatoes which are nearly past their prime, a handful of fresh basil from the hardiest basil plant in the world and a clove of garlic which you discovered while cleaning out the pantry? Of course I could have made a fresh salad, but with a bit of a chill in the air lately, I really felt like something warm and comforting. Something like a batch of fresh tomato pasta sauce!

I didn't have a recipe for this sauce, but made it up as I went... the results though were pretty tasty!

1. Peel the tomatoes. There is a nice link about how to do so here. I'm a fan of the boiling water method myself.  I also find peeling them quite therapeutic really.
2. In a saucepan, I sauteed two brown onions (diced) and the chopped garlic clove in some olive oil.
3. When that was appropriately browned, I added a good lug of white wine from a bottle that was open in the fridge. Boil the alcohol out of that.
4. Add the peeled tomatoes which have been diced roughly, and a tablespoon of brown sugar to combat the acidity of the tomatoes. I added a chopped chilli as well.
5. Turn the heat way down, and let this simmer as long as possible to let the flavours develop and the tomatoes break down. Mine was on the stove from mid afternoon until dinner time. Be sure to stir occasionally so that it doesn't burn and stick to the bottom.
6. Just before taking off the heat, tear up the basil and allow to infuse for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Viola!

Sorry about the picture. The chill in the air also means darkness comes earlier, so there is an extra challenge taking pictures without natural light.

Served with fettuccini, this was an amazing fresh and tasty meal.  I grew the basil and the chilli, and I contributed a couple of homegrown cherry tomatoes in there as well. Yes, it's not the vibrant red of store bought sauces but this is preservative free, tasty and made the entire house smell like an Italian restaurant. 

Tips

• Peel the tomatoes.  You could probably get away without doing this, but sauces are always nicer if you don't have to pick stringy tomato skins out of them and sometimes the skins make sauce taste a bit acidic.
• I've always been taught not to cook with a wine I wouldn't drink. Use something halfway decent, or just leave it out.
• Fresh ingredients make the difference. The basil was delicious in this - I could easily have added more.
• I think this sauce would be great to puree as well if you're not into the chunky sauces. It stores really well frozen also.
• I've deliberately left this sauce very plain as I freeze portions of it like this. I then use it as a basis for other meals, and add flavours then for whatever I'm cooking. I use it as a basis for lasagna, more complicated pasta sauces, or even to add flavour to stews and casseroles.

What about you? Are you a fan of fresh pasta sauces?

Simple scones

Whenever I'm asked to take a plate along to a casual social outing, my mind immediately jumps to scones.

They're the ultimate munching food really - plain enough that you can flavour them however you want, yet tasty enough that you could eat them on your own if you desire.

I have many happy memories associated with scones and a hot beverage, and I think most everyone likes a well made scone.  Also, I always think it's nice to put a little bit of effort in and take something home baked when possible (and appropriate).

My scone recipe is based off Bill Granger's recipe which can be found in his book Bill's Food.

I like this recipe because of the simplicity - there are only a handful of ingredients, which I always have on hand, and it's easy and quick to mix up a batch and have them ready for nomming twenty minutes later. The original recipe calls for milk and butter but its easy to substitute those with plant based alternatives and have no one the wiser.

• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 2.5 cups flour
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 30g butter (I use nuttelex)
• 1 cup milk (soy or almond work nicely)

That's it. Sift the dry ingredients together, then add the wet ones. Mix lightly and quickly then use a glass to cut shapes approximately 2.5cm high by 5cm thick. Bake 8-10 minutes at 220C then serve warm with your choice of condiments.

Tips for awesome scones:: 

• Don't over mix the dough. Use a knife to combine things and try to handle it as little as possible so your scones are light and airy
• Use a warm baking tray. While the oven is warming up, I put the tray in and only remove it once I have the scones ready for baking
• Place the scones together on the tray so they are touching each other. This makes them rise beautifully as they have nowhere to go but up

The scones below are a batch I whipped up (while Ellie was napping) to take for morning tea with my mothers group today. I served them with a choice of plum or strawberry jam and they were a hit (just quietly). I wish I'd gotten a picture when they were prettily plated but they were nommed much too quickly.

What about you? Do you have a go-to baking recipe for sharing with friends?

A necklace a day keeps grabby hands away

Babies start off as placid little blobs. You can do anything with them at that stage - they're very portable and it's easy to maintain a semblance of a life still. You can put them down and they'll still be in roughly the same position when you come back. They sleep a lot and it's very easy to bundle them up and take them with you. When you're feeding them, they are easily arranged into the ideal feeding position. Then they get older.

They discover their toes, they discover sounds - oh my, is that daddy I hear, what's happening on the TV, oh mum didn't you want to gaze lovingly into my eyes while I tear myself (painfully) off your nipple? Yes, I went there and said nipple on my blog. Ahem. They also start to learn about textures and touch. Your previously gentle baby will move from stroking you lovingly to accidentally slapping you in the face while flailing around. She'll pull your hair, and then try to eat it. If you're nursing in public, it's entirely likely your modesty shield will be torn off exposing everything. Also, if you have my luck you'll be in the ugliest bra you own when that happens. Take my advice, pretty dangly earrings and elegant necklaces are a thing of the past.

Wait, what?! Fear not, I said elegant and dangly jewellery, that wasn't a blanket statement.  

I've got two necklaces I can wear safely that are guaranteed to keep Ellie's attention and help keep my sanity. The first is a Jellystone designs silicon pendant, very similar to the one below except mine is fuchsia. It's my go-to neck ornament when I'm heading out with Ellie for extended periods as it has two main uses - the first is that it's made of a washable BPA-free silicon which makes it perfect for sore gums to gnaw on. The second is that it hangs at a perfect height to be played with while feeding - hello, distraction free nursing and polite latching and detaching! It also has a nifty little clasp which opens if the pendant is yanked or pulled too hard.

The other necklace I have is my pretty, 'dressy mummy' necklace, which is perfect for distracting Ellie while wrapping her.  This gorgeous handmade necklace is by Kim, at deer love, and every time I look at it, it screams "sunny weather days" at me. So I call it my sunny day necklace and just wearing it brightens my mood immediately.  The beads are handmade by Kim from polymer clay, rolled and baked at home before being knotted onto a leather cord, which hangs around the decolletage area on me.  The necklace is delightful and distracts Ellie marvellously so that she doesn't pull on my hair while I'm wearing her. Also, because of where it hangs, it's a great length for her to play with while feeding as well. Wins all around!! And just look at the beautiful packaging - it came wrapped in the gorgeous fabric scrap with an adorable wooden deer brooch as well.

Disclaimer: I was provided the deer love necklace for consideration

Bunny baby

This is a post to say sorry I've been MIA lately. We went away over the long weekend and have had a lot of firsts happen recently.

Ellie turned six months old so we celebrated the occasion with a round of needles and her first plane trip. She was not the best baby ever on the plane. I think it's karmic retribution for those times as a corporate flyer when I'd shoot glares at parents travelling with children. Now I'm the one with the screaming child. I was so afraid of getting glares from people that every time the poor thing opened her mouth I tried to shove in a breast. Or a bottle. Or her Sophie. Or a finger full of teething gel, just so it'd look like I was trying. Frankly we're lucky she didn't explode she must have been so full! Travelling with babies is a challenge all by itself.

It was Ellie's first Easter.

Despite my stern warning to her grandparents that we weren't going to get her anything so don't show us up, my request clearly fell on deaf ears. But just look at that face with her Easter loot!

It was Ellie's first time at the beach. I don't have any pictures of her on the actual sand on my camera, but here she is ready to head out.

She loved crunching her toes in the sand and squealed gleefully when the waves hit her. We also had a pool so she swam every day, sometimes multiple times a day, and despite my best efforts slathering on baby sunscreen she got a little tanned (I can tell because the inside of her neck rolls is still milky white!).

Ellie tried honey and Vegemite for the first time. Strangely she seemed to prefer the Vegemite, or it could just be that her grandpa's fingers were good to chew on for itchy gums.

There was plenty of food consumed over the Easter weekend, plenty of relaxing done and plenty of family cuddles had.

What did everyone else do over Easter? Any firsts for you?

Current ear worms

You know those songs that just get stuck in your head and you can't stop singing them?  And when the radio plays them you sing along with every word? Those songs where you've sung them so much, if you start a line, your partner can finish it? Well, here are my current top ear worms:

#1 Just Give Me A Reason - Pink featuring Nate Ruess
Love this song. Just love it. I'm still kicking myself that yet again, I missed tickets to see her show - she's an amazing person, artist and mother. And Nate? Well, I have loved all the songs he's released with Fun so far.

#2 Impossible - James Arthur
Mr Fork informs me that James is a contestant on some music talent show, which makes me like him a little less really.  This song though? Fabulous.

#3 Beneath Your Beautiful - Labrinth feat Emili Sande
Yes, the grammar/spelling in the title annoys me like you wouldn't believe. Hey, it works for them and gets people talking about it. The song itself used to bring me to tears, but that could probably be written off under hormones... yeah, let's go with that.

#4 I Could Be The One - Avicii, featuring Nicky Romero
I don't know. I'm not usually into dancey stuff, but something about it just gets stuck in my head and won't come out. Probably because it only has about 10 words and they're all very catchy.

#5 Candy - Robbie Williams

This song reminds me of summer. Or of when I was small and used to be a roller skater and during social skating sessions, they'd put on something boppy and happy sounding like this song. Also, Ellie loves to use her jolly jumper to music and this is one of her favourites. 

#6 Wish You Were Here - Delta Gordon
Ever since I saw her on 'The Voice' tv show, Delta has annoyed me. I love this song though.

#7 Small Bump - Ed Sheeran

I first heard this song while I was pregnant, and I had to listen to it a few times before the words sank in and I understood what he was singing about. And then I cried every time I heard it. I still get a little teary now, especially when I think back to how I felt carrying my tiny human around inside of me. I think that's something that makes a song great though - the ability to make people think and feel when they hear it. 

And, finally to my shame,

#8 Little Things - One Direction
I don't know what to say. Except that I'm a sucker for a boy band and an even bigger sucker for a good love song. Shush.

Needless to say, poor Ellie is being serenaded with quite a few of these at the moment, mainly because I know all the words and can croon them at will. I shudder a little to think that these will be the songs my daughter associates with me when she's older but I'm unable unwilling to change them.

Do you have any songs you can't get our of your head? Any songs you know all the words to? I'd love to know what they are and why - share your current ear worms with me in the comments!

Things that make me go ahhh

As a mother, I've learnt to take my 'me' moments where I can get them.  Often they are snatched when Ellie is sleeping, and it's hard to tell how long that might be for.  It could be 10 minutes or it could be a couple of hours.  

It's a tough gig, motherhood.  Movies I watched growing up showed Stepford mothers in aprons whipping up a daily roast, having time to garden, bake nutritious home made snacks, wash, fold, iron and still have time to socialise and have a coffee.  Lies, I say. Or maybe I'm just doing it wrong. For a large percentage of the day, I have a small human attached to me. She is completely dependent on me to anticipate and respond to her needs. I can't really have any 'off' time when it's just me at home and I've never been able to nap when she naps. When she was very small, Mr Fork used to bring Ellie into bed with us. He would fall asleep instantly, but I would lie awake twitching at every small snuffle and sigh she would make in her sleep. It was a huge relief when he stopped doing that and let her sleep in her cot in her own room.

I digress. As I was saying, it's important to me to be able to grab some downtime when I can. At the moment, food is really helping me in those moments. Breastfeeding really takes it out of you, and it's tough to eat when Ellie constantly wants to grab what I'm having or gaze adoringly into my eyes when all I want to do is finish the page I'm reading and relax.

Here are things that are making me go 'ahhhhh' when I get a moment to myself:

• Chai tea mix. I used to spend a fortune on chai lattes when I was working. Now I can have a cup when I feel like it in my own home. Win! Next step, learn to make the mix myself

• MaltEaster bunnies. Need I say more really?

• Candles. I love them and this vanilla bean scented one reminds me of many good things such as cookies and baking and summer moisturisers

• Cupcakes. Even better if they're homemade and vegan. These are sexy low fat vanilla cupcakes from the 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World' book. They are amazing. Just saying!

• Marie Claire magazine. I was gifted a subscription while pregnant and it's been a great gift. Unlike a book where I can get lost for hours, magazine articles are short(er) and easier to read in a sitting so I can pick it up and put it down. Even better that this magazine is not just full of celebrity gossip (don't get me wrong, I do enjoy that!), but articles where I feel my intelligence isn't constantly being insulted. Pre-baby, I used to tear through a magazine in less than a day, but now it takes me the whole month to get through in between doing other things. And it's delivered to my door. Perfect!

How do you spend your downtime and take a moment for yourself?

Moogoo keeps the nappy rash in check

Recently the little miss has had the most awful nappy rash. As with her cold, she doesn't seem to know that something is amiss and doesn't show any reaction except for smiles and giggles. I suspect one of the main culprits is the horribly acidic urine associated with teething, so it'll pass eventually, but it sure looks painful!

As we're using modern cloth nappies, we have to be careful with the creams we put on as certain ingredients tend to coat the fibres of the inserts, making them less absorbent. Tip #1: if there is one quality you want in a nappy, absorbency is it, so don't mess with that!

Tip #2: If there is a place you want to use a good quality product, it's in the the nappy area! I make a habit that with every product I use on the little miss, I also test it on myself. Yes, this means that I've tried some pretty awful things (certain teething gels, panadol, and nappy creams, I'm looking at you) but I've also discovered some great products too.

Nappy free time is only practical some of the time, we definitely can't go out in public comfortably that way! I went through the contents of my baby sample collection to see what I had, and tested them one by one.  I even went to far as to use creams I knew I shouldn't be, having to add extra liners to the nappy so they wouldn't touch the material but nothing was clearing up this rash - if anything, it was getting worse.  In absolute desperation, I turned to my trusty MooGoo MSM soothing cream. I'd originally bought this to help soothe some itchy spots I had on the scalp, and hoped it would help with nappy rash too. The real bonus is that it doesn't have any zinc in it, which is something that most nappy rash creams contain and a big no no for the modern cloth nappies.

Verdict? Since using the MSM cream, the rash has noticeably improved and there was no need for more icky zinc creams and added nappy liners. The cream is soothing without being thick and gunky, and really does help keep nasty acidic teething rash at bay.  I've learnt that if a product is natural enough, it can be used on both mama and baby skin with fantastic results for both.

As a new mother, it's hard to find products that I trust, but when I find one that I like using and that helps my baby feel better too, I'm sold. Yay MooGoo, thank you for making a natural product good enough to eat and safe for baby's bottom!

Do you have any products you share with baby? Any baby products you've stolen for use yourself? I'd love to hear about them!